


My favorite Place In The World

by Keenler1112



Category: The Blacklist (US TV)
Genre: Gen, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Bad At Titles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-14 06:02:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29537931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keenler1112/pseuds/Keenler1112
Summary: But before she even had time to make the call, she felt a big hit on her head and the last thing she was aware of was her cell phone falling to the floor.
Relationships: Elizabeth Keen & Donald Ressler, Elizabeth Keen/Donald Ressler
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	My favorite Place In The World

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone !  
> This text doesn't really have a context, it's at the end of season 7, before the start of season 8 like almost all the texts I write lmao, it's a kind of AU I think.  
> Anyway, enjoy!

Reddington had given them a big case. A man named Shirali Arlov was their new target. He was at the head of a huge human traffic. They kidnapped only women who used to transport drugs that he obtained from the cartels and sold in the streets. The women in question were always chosen in the same way: they lived alone, had very few close friends and family, if at all. They were always taken away in the evening, after leaving work or in front of their homes. Already two women had been kidnapped since the team had taken charge of the case. The TaskForce had only a few leads and tension built between team members whenever one of the leads went nowhere.

Everyone was on edge and when a third woman was taken away right under their noses, it was too much. Cooper made hundreds of phone calls in his office trying to appease the media. Rumors spread quickly and the whole town was starting to panic that anyone could disappear at any time. Alina, Aram, and several other agents were in the open space connecting things together, trying to find leads to explore. Liz and Ressler were in their office, studying from every angle all the files that could be used for this case. All the personal files of the women who have disappeared, those relating to the trafic, Arlov's file: everything was explored. Unfortunately the tracks narrowed as time went on and the tension in the room rose greatly. It was past 10:30 p.m. when a new file turned out to be useless, Liz exhaled heavily, anger and exhaustion taking over. Ressler looked up at Liz before speaking:

“Maybe we should go home, take a break. "  
"What if another woman gets kidnapped tonight?" What if somebody else dies because of the drugs this guy sells? "  
“I know Liz. But the files don't lead to anything and we no longer have clear minds. We might as well go home and come back with more energy tomorrow. "  
"It's almost like you don't want to stop them." 

Ressler looked at her with incomprehension and seeing that she wasn't explaining herself, he questioned her:

"Why are you saying that?"   
"I don't know, you tell me. Looks like you don't want to stop this guy. You took drugs again and that's why you want us to leave him alone?" Liz regretted saying those words the second they left her mouth. 

"Is that really what you think of me?"   
"Ress-"  
“No it's okay, I got it. "

With that, Ressler picked up his things and left their office. Liz stood up, trying to catch up with him but she was too late, the elevator having already closed on a hurt Ressler. She didn't even know why she said that. She knew that he had been perfectly sober for years and that he would never do it again for fear of what it might cost him. She knew it and yet she couldn't help being awful to him and now she blamed herself. She returned to their office in slow motion, considering how to reach him to apologize. If she sent a message, he wouldn't respond. If she went to his place he might not open. There was only one option left, to call him even though again the chances of him answering were very low. She picked up her things and headed for the elevator again. Once inside, she pulled out her phone and pressed Ressler's number, saved in her favorites. When she heard the voicemail, she couldn't help but be disappointed even though she expected it.

“Ressler it's me. Look, I'm sorry for what I told you, I didn't mean it. I know you're sober and you know how proud I am of you for that. Call me back when you got this message ok? I'm sorry. "

Liz hung up and got out of the elevator to return to her car. The drive to her apartment was fast and Liz pulled up in front of her apartment building about 15 minutes later. As she got out of her car she grabbed her phone, wanting to try calling Ressler again. She unlocked her phone and going to her contacts, opened Ressler's. But before she even had time to make the call, she felt a big hit on her head and the last thing she was aware of was her cell phone falling to the floor.

Ressler was in his car when his phone rang. Of course it was Liz. He let it ring having neither the strength nor the courage to discuss what had happened any longer that evening. He knew that Liz didn't really mean what she said, but the fact that she brought up his addiction when he hadn't been on drugs in years made him feel bad. He could talk to Liz the next day and go to sleep for now. He returned to his apartment and put his phone, his gun, his badge and his keys on the kitchen bar. Having already had dinner at the office earlier, he showered and went to bed in stride, not having noticed Liz's message.

The next morning, all of the Task Force agents arrived early. All except Liz. Cooper tried to call her, then Aram and everyone's concern began to be felt when neither managed to reach her. Cooper asks Aram to locate Liz's phone and everyone was surpised when the displayed address was the one of her apartment. Harold sent Alina there but having a bad feeling, Ressler asked to go too, which Cooper agreed. About 15 minutes later, Ressler and Alina arrived at Liz's apartment. They both felt reassured when they saw Liz's car parked in front of the building. They went up the stairs to Liz's apartment and after several knocks on the door without getting an answer, Ressler pulled out the duplicate key Liz had given him in case of an emergency. It was definitely an emergency. They entered the living room and looked for any trace of Liz but stopped a few minutes later in front of the obvious: the apartment was empty. The two agents left the apartment and heading for the exit, Alina contacted Cooper to warn him that Liz was nowhere to be found. They walked out of the building and Ressler's gaze was caught by something on the ground near Liz's car. He approached, alerting Alina who ended her conversation with Cooper. Ressler then picked up Liz's phone and a wave of anguish washed over him. He unlocked the phone noticing that the screen had been locked on his contact card. Liz wanted to call him. Something had happened to her and the last thing she had done before she disappeared was try to call him. Alina informed Cooper of their discovery and Cooper ordered them to return to PostOffice.

Back at the office, the team began an intensive search to locate Liz. They spent hours there, going through surveillance camera footage, phone records, whatever that could leads them to Liz. The team's angst only increased when they found that Liz had been kidnapped by Shirali Arlov and was now caught in the middle of the traffic they had been trying to destroy for over a week now.

Ressler was working alone in the office he should have shared with Liz. His mind wandered over the call she had made to him the night before and he pulled his phone out of his pocket to check his call log. He finally noticed that he had a new message from Liz. His heart raced and he pressed the "start" button, his hand shaking:

“Ressler it's me. Look, I'm sorry for what I told you, I didn't mean it. I know you're sober and you know how proud I am of you for that. Call me back when you got this message ok? I'm sorry. "

Ressler's eyes suddenly burned, guilt overwhelming him. The last time he had seen Liz, they had argued. He left, leaving her alone and they had taken her away. Ressler rose abruptly from his chair, banging his desk hard. The noise alerted Aram who soon crossed the threshold of the office, joining Ressler:

" What's the matter ?" Asked a worried Aram.

Ressler looked up at him, remaining silent for a moment trying to regain control of his emotions. Mission that proved impossible until they got Liz back. He took a deep breath and cleared his throat before speaking:

“We had a fight with Liz last night so I left without even giving her time to speak. She tried to call me and I didn't answer. I thought we would have time to discuss it today. And now I lost her. And she thinks I hate her because I didn't pick up MY FUCKING PHONE! "  
"You've already had a fight before and I know you'll get over it. So we gonna find her then you both can have your explanation. At least you'll be calmer and half the officers in this building won't be afraid of being in front of you anymore. "

Aram ended his sentence with a slight smile that was meant to be comforting for his friend. If Liz was important to him, he knew she was even more important to Ressler. He didn't really know when, but his two friends had really evolved towards each other and today it was impossible to imagine them without each other. Ressler was about to answer but was cut off by Alina who rushed into the office:

'Liz is in Georgia in a transit house where the women of the traffic stay for one or two days maximum. Reddington lends us his plane to go and find her. "

It didn't take Ressler and Aram any more to rush outside, reaching the nearest airfield to reach Reddington and catch the plane that would take them to Liz. The hours seemed like an eternity for Ressler who couldn't stand still. Everyone had noticed, including Reddington who regularly glanced worriedly at the agent, knowing full well what was going on in his head. They arrived on site after 3 hours of travel and went directly to the address Alina had found earlier. They were joined by the local police and entered the house. Police teams were advancing quickly through the house, getting rid of the criminals belonging to the cartel. All the rooms in the house were searched and at least twenty women had been found. Ressler searched the top floor with a few other agents, frantically opening all the doors in search of Liz. When he opened one of the last doors on the right, he was finally able to resume breathing normally. She was there. Sitting on the floor with her back resting against a wall, half conscious, her feet and hands tied but she was there. Ressler hurriedly put his gun away and knelt in front of Liz. He released her shackles as she struggled to form a cohesive sentence:

"You came? I thought you hated me, that you wouldn't come ... "  
"Of course I came, I can't live without you, right? "  
"I'm so sorry for what I told you, I'm sorry, I-"  
"Hey it's okay, already forgotten, the important thing is that you're safe now. "

He helped Liz up and led her to the exit where rescue teams were already waiting to take care of all the women found in the house. A paramedic quickly approached Liz and concluded that she had no physical injuries and could go home. The Task Force then took the plane back with Reddington, leaving Alina with the rest of the women and the local authorities to liaise with Washington so that they could reach to the traffic chief as quickly as possible.

Liz sat down next to Ressler on the plane and after exchanging a few words with her team, she fell asleep, the events of the past 24 hours being felt. She snuggled up against Ressler who didn't need to be asked to wrap his arms around her, pulling her as close as possible wanting to feel she was really there. He himself felt his eyes gradually closing and it was not long before he fell asleep under the tender gaze of the rest of the team and Reddington. The return trip passed relatively quickly and they soon arrived in Washington. Cooper gave Liz a week off. During those few days, Ressler and Liz kept in close contact and he was extremely proud to be able to tell her that they had succeeded in capturing Shirali Arlov and that his traffic was being dismantled.

The week drew to a close and Liz's routine resumed as she emerged from the yellow elevator. She went through Cooper's office to sort out some formalities regarding her return, then came back downstairs to find the other members of her team waiting for her near Aram's office. They were all happy to see her again, especially Ressler who hadn't been able to wipe the smile off his face that had appeared the second Liz had entered the building. Later that day they both met in their office and Ressler couldn't help but notice how exhausted Liz looked. He took advantage of the calm of their office to talk to her about it:

" How are you ? "  
“I'm fine don't worry. "  
"You look exhausted."

Liz didn't answer at first, trying to figure out what to say but then answered:

“I haven't slept all week, I have nightmares. "

Ressler looked at her, a very slight sad smile spreading over his face, inviting her to continue, which she did:

“I have flashes of that night. As soon as I close my eyes, they are all I see and it turns on a loop. I can't stop the images from going through my head. "  
"Yet haven't you had nightmares on the plane?"  
“You were there on the plane. "

He shouldn't have heard Liz's voice barely higher than a whisper. And yet, he heard and he didn't know what to do with this information. She had managed to sleep because she felt safe since he was there. He knew he was important to her, after all he was her tiny island of calm, but he didn't really know what she expected of him when she confided this to him. However, he barely thought for a second before speaking again, knowing that he was ready to do absolutly everything that could help her. After all, he had promised her that nothing gonna happen to her, not on his watch:

"If you want I can drop by tonight, maybe that would be enough to ease your mind?" 

Liz had seen a lot in her life, but it was the first time she had come across a shy Donald Ressler. She couldn't help a smile spreading across her face, already knowing that she wanted to accept his offer but not wanting to deprive him of the little free time he was allowing himself outside of work.

"Surely you have better things to do than spend the evening at my house to prevent me from having nightmares."   
"If I suggest it to you it's because it doesn't bother me, in addition, you can't really say that I have a social life so it's ok for me if it is for you. "

Their new routine started like this. They spent their day working with the team on the Blacklisters Reddington delivered to them and every night they came to Liz's place. The first night Ressler had left after making sure Liz was asleep. The next day, however, when she told him she had a nightmare later that night, he couldn't bring himself to leave the apartment. When she awoke, shaking and breathless, he was there. He took her in his arms, whispering soothing words to her while stroking her hair. Liz gradually calmed down, soothed by Ressler's calm voice and the feeling of his fingers sliding through her hair. Ressler tried to gently pull himself away to let Liz go back to sleep but she clung to him, not letting him go:

"Stay ... please."

Liz made a place next to her under the covers and he joined her. As soon as he was installed, she snuggled up against him and he wrapped his arms around her. It didn't take long for Liz to fall asleep after that, in the comfort of Ressler's arms, The following nights were all like this: Liz falling asleep without nightmares snuggled up in Ressler's arms and the mornings punctuated by Agnes's stories during the breakfast they all ate together.

One morning, however, the routine was slightly disturbed. Neither of them knew which one initiated the movement. Neither of them really knew how it happened. Yet they had kissed. It didn't last long though, Ressler's phone interrupting them to ask them to come to the office as Reddington had given a new Blacklister. When they arrived at the PostOffice, Alina and Cooper had not yet arrived, only Aram was waiting for them near his desk:

“Mr. Reddington is on his way. By the way Ressler, congratulations! "

Ressler and Liz exchanged a look of incomprehension before the blond agent spoke:

“Why congratulations? "  
“For your promotion! I didn't know you were leaving though, you could still have warned us. "

Liz's world stopped spinning. Why when she thought she could finally regain some stability, everything seemed to always fall apart? She didn't bother to listen to the rest of the conversation between her two colleagues, she went to her office trying to silence the emotions that were fighting in her. Ressler joined her barely a minute later and she didn't give him time before she spoke:

"Were you planning to telling me?"  
"There's an explanation I promise, just let me explain."  
“There's nothing to explain. They saw that you are a competent agent, it is normal that you are promoted. "  
"Liz-"

But Liz didn't give him time to speak, speaking again, suspicion of sobs in her voice:

"I just wish you'd told me about it, especially after ... after this morning. But maybe you had already chosen to leave before it happened so what happened meant nothing to you. But it meant something to me because- "  
"LIZ-"  
"I LOVE YOU KNUCKLEHEAD"

The air in the room was sucked in and the rest of the world could have disappeared, neither of them would have noticed.

"You're right I had already made a decision before what happened this morning. I decided to stay. And if you think what happened meant nothing to me, get that idea out of your head right now because I never wanted anything more than what happened this morning. "

Liz didn't need any further explanation, she quickly stepped forward and kissed Ressler intensely. He wrapped his arms around her waist and responded to the kiss lovingly. They parted just a few inches, catching their breath and while Liz thought nothing could embellish this moment, Ressler spoke up:

“I love you too. "

A huge smile spread across Liz's face and she was about to kiss him again when Aram knocked on their door asking them to come, not without expressing his overwhelming joy at the knowledge that his friends were finally in a relationship.

When the next day an agent approached Ressler to ask him what decision he had made regarding the transfer, he proudly stated that he preferred to stay on his team. The agent asked him if he was sure, adding that an offer like this probably wouldn't come again but Ressler was more than sure, he didn't want a transfer, he wanted Liz and he finally had her so he wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. Liz knew he had refused in part for her and she had never been so grateful for the decision that had been made. They had never been so happy as together. Never been as strong as together and if there was one positive element to choose from this whole sordid kidnapping thing, it was definitely the fact that now she could, at every moment of her life, go to her favorite place in the world, the arms of Donald Ressler.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it!


End file.
